World War II: Ultimate Collections

This 10 DVD mega set draws primarily from History Channel programming aired back when the channel was often called the "Hitler Channel" along with some shows from the A&E Biography series. It tries to emulate the superb World at War series, but falls well short of that mark.In truth it might be called the'American' version of World War Two as it rarely touches on the Eastern Front or events that don't revolve around US involvement. Flawed it may be it still has some merit.

The programs begins with the War Chronicles series narrated by the veteran actor Patrick O'Niell, while no Lawrence Olivier, he his reasonably serviceable. Each program runs about 22-24 minutes long and fitted into a 30 minute time slot on TV. The greatest flaw in these films is American-centric view of the war which leaves out much of the context.

Next up is two Biography documentaries, one on Halsey, the other on MacArthur. Both are solid efforts that don't shy away from the flaws of each man. Frankly it left me wanting more as certainly other notable people really ought to be included in any 'ultimate' collection on WWII, but taken as they are both are fine programmers. A group of one off shows follow looking at American aircraft production, the Nuremburg Trials and the final battle of the war, Okinawa. Each of these run at about 45 minutes each.

The collection concludes with the Great Blunders of World War Two series. I have to confess a certain fondness for these short programs. Flawed sometimes, they were like video popcorn to me as they would invariably catch and hold my attention whenever they were shown.

These shows no longer seem to be broadcast any longer on either the History or A&E channels so having them on DVD has some merit and since the whole collection cost me about ten dollars in a Wal-mart bargain bin and provides nearly 15 hours of entertainment I felt it a reasonable bargain.

Wars are rarely fought in black and white, but in infinite shades of grey

Media

Resources

Members

About US

Welcome to WWII Forums! You are at a gateway to WWII discussion, research, exploration, & analysis. We directly support the repository at WW2.ORG, and several other worthwhile projects that add to the historical record. Join in if you dare!